Comments are Free: Disqus Makes Service Free for Users

Commenting platform Disqus today announced a change in price that should make its users smile: the commenting platform is free and it's looking to make you money through content marketing.

More than Conversation

Since its launch in 2007, Disqus has been focused on improving the way people converse on websites and blogs through its commenting system, and now it's improving the bottom line for sites that use its platform.

Websites that use Disqus will be automatically be updated to free promoted and organic discovery features. The organic discovery finds relevant discussions and stories from within a website's posts or related sites on the Discus platform while the promoted discovery is comprised of targeted marketing content. The feature includes analytics capabilities as well.

Reaching 300 million people per month, and with 1.3 million registered communities, Disqus is now transforming into something more than just a commenting system,” said J. Angelo Racoma during the company’s 2012 update, which included other discovery features, such as a community view.

Earning its Keep

The potential to earn profit exists within the Discovery Box through the organic and promoted discovery.

Organic Discovery makes recommendations based on sites users are visiting or from sites that use Disqus, so that a website can build and expand its readership and traffic levels.

With the marketer content of the promoted discovery, publishers can earn revenue based on a pay-per-click basis for promoted content.

Our goal is to provide readers with links to great content, whether organic or promoted,” says the Disqus website. “We also arm you with sufficient controls … to make sure the Discovery Box meets your needs.”

The type of content that is promoted can be adjusted with the “Choose Your Discovery Level" option that ranges from Maximum Increased Traffic and Revenue to just Comments, which allows users who don't want to use the service to disable it from within the settings dashboard.

With this change comes the ending of its fee-for-support model, as the company anticipates a growth in users due to the low pricetag.

An App Update

The web version of Disqus isn't the only product to be updated. WinSource reported that the company has also added new features to its Windows Phone app that include a recent discussions page and inline browser, so users don't have to leave the app to view a website.

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